FYI,
Richard

Welcome back from the Big Sand Box! I’m very pleased to hear that you made it home safely.

I had forgotten that you are a Crimson alum. Thanks very much for the insight into the mindset there. I’m sorry to hear that this sort of thing won’t be punished more severely, but I do understand.

I was in my second year of law school when Tribe’s piece was published, and it was required reading in my Constitutional Law class. It was quite a shock–and quite disheartening indeed–when I learned that he had committed plagiarism.

Eric

But times have changed. For example, the Law School’s Prof. Lawrence Tribe, renowned left-wing constitutional lawyer, wrote in 1985, “God Save This Honorable Court: How the Choice of Justices Shapes Our History.” Only later did he admit stealing entire sections from a 1974 work by Prof. Henry Abraham. Tribe remains tenured at the Law School. Likewise, the Law School’s Prof. Charles Ogletree admitted the “unintentional” borrowing of six entire paragraphs from another man’s book. He still retains his chair. (In “fairness” to Ogletree, he later admitted that “his” book was actually a cut and paste job performed by his students to which he later slapped on his name!) Moreover, another well-known Harvardian, an historian in fact, settled out of court on multiple charges of literary theft. At the time, she was an Overseer of the Corporation, and was permitted to serve out her term.

So bear in mind that stealing at Harvard ain’t what it was. Today’s Harvard is characterized by indiscriminate grade inflation and professorial self-inflation, the curbing of which arguably cost Larry Summers his job as university president.

An easy prediction–other than legal hassles over her advance, Ms. Viswanathan will pay no academic price at Harvard. Indeed, by her fourth year, she may even have tenure!

The Son of Sam laws remain in full force and effect.

Eric

a) Little, Brown ought to ensure that it gets its $500,000 back,

b) the plagiarist ought to lose her movie contract & any funds pertaining to that,

c) get booted from Harvard ASAP, and

d) be prosecuted for theft — which could possibly put her under the strictures of the “Son of Sam laws” that prohibit certain criminals from earning money from tell-all books. (Unfortunately, I’m not sure that this law has not already been stricken down by the courts.)

It won’t be until plagiarists are hit with criminal charges arising from their efforts to defraud their publishers as well as steal the ‘property’ of those from whom they plagiarize that this noxious plague (Hey! Nice word play there!) will cease.

v.p.

LOL. Good point.

Eric

It would not surprise me a bit if Harvard didn’t do just that. Plagiarism is, so far as I know, a violation of every student code of ethics around. This is pretty blatant.

Eric

Good for the publisher. Yank the book, throw out what’s left, and demand all payments be returned. It’s a breach of contract, not to mention a breach of morals, and hopefully this young lady finds another vocation other than writing to occupy her time.

Maybe working in a carbon paper and tracing paper manufacturing plant…

J.D.

Still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think Haavahd ought to boot her out the gate as well…